Ransom

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This article is about the criminal practice. For other uses, see Ransom (disambiguation).

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"The Ramsom", John Everett Millais, c1860

Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their
release, or it may refer to the sum of money involved.
When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ranon from Latin redemptio =
"buying back":[1] compare "redemption".

Contents
[hide]

1Ransom cases
2Ransom notes
3Variations
4See also
5References

Ransom cases[edit]
Julius Caesar was captured by pirates near the island of Pharmacusa, and held until someone paid
50 talents to free him.[2]
In Europe during the Middle Ages, ransom became an important custom of chivalric warfare. An
important knight, especially nobility or royalty, was worth a significant sum of money if captured, but
nothing if he was killed. For this reason, the practice of ransom contributed to the development
of heraldry, which allowed knights to advertise their identities, and by implication their ransom value,
and made them less likely to be killed out of hand. Examples include Richard the Lion
Heart and Bertrand du Guesclin.
The abduction of Charley Ross on July 1, 1874 is considered to be the first American kidnapping for
ransom.
In 1532, Francisco Pizarro was paid a ransom amounting to a roomful of gold by the Inca
Empire before having their leader Atahualpa, his victim, executed in a ridiculous trial. The ransom
payment received by Pizarro is recognized as the largest ever paid to a single individual, probably
over $2 billion in today's economic markets.[citation needed]
East Germany, which built the Inner German border to stop emigration, practised ransom with
people. East German citizens could emigrate through the semi-secret route of being ransomed by
the West German government in a process termed Freikauf (literally the buying of
freedom).[3] Between 1964 and 1989, 33,755 political prisoners were ransomed. West Germany paid
over 3.4 billion DMnearly $2.3 billion at 1990 pricesin goods and hard currency.[4] Those
ransomed were valued on a sliding scale, ranging from around 1,875 DM for a worker to around
11,250 DM for a doctor. For a while, payments were made in kind using goods that were in short
supply in East Germany, such as oranges, bananas, coffee and medical drugs. The average
prisoner was worth around 4,000 DM worth of goods.[5]

Ransom notes[edit]
"Ransom note" redirects here. For the use in typography, see Ransom note effect.

Ransom note delivered to the family of Adolph Coors III in 1960

A request for ransom may be conveyed to the target of the effort by a ransom note, a written
document outlining the demands of the kidnappers. In some instances, however, the note itself can
be used as forensic evidence to discover the identities of unknown kidnappers,[6]or to convict them at
trial. For example, if a ransom note contains misspellings, a suspect might be asked to write a
sample of text to determine if they make the same spelling errors.[6] In some instances, a person may
forge a ransom note in order to falsely collect a ransom despite not having an actual connection to
the kidnapper.[7] In popular culture, ransom notes are often depicted as being made from words in
different typefaces clipped from different sources (typically newspapers), in order to disguise the
handwriting of the kidnapper,[8] leading to the phrase ransom note effect being used to describe
documents containing jarringly mixed fonts. On other occasions, a ransom note has been used as a
ploy to convince family members that a person is being held for ransom when that person has
actually left of their own volition, or was already dead before the note was sent.

Variations[edit]
There were numerous instances in which towns paid to avoid being plundered, an example
being Salzburg which, under Paris Lodron paid a ransom to Bavaria to prevent its being sacked
during the Thirty Year's War. As late as the Peninsular War (180814), it was the belief of the
English soldiers that a town taken by storm was liable to sack for three days, and they acted on their
conviction at Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajozand San Sebastian.
In the early 18th century the custom was that the captain of a captured vessel gave a bond or
ransom bill, leaving one of his crew as a hostage or ransomer in the hands of the captor.
Frequent mention is made of the taking of French privateers which had in them ten or a dozen
ransomers. The owner could be sued on his bond. Payment of ransom was banned by
the Parliament of Great Britain in 1782[9] although this was repealed in 1864.[10] It was generally
allowed by other nations.
In the Russo-Japanese War no mention was made of ransom, and with the disappearance
of privateering, which was conducted wholly for gain, it has ceased to have any place in war at sea,
but the contributions levied by invading armies might still be accurately described by the name.
Although ransom is usually demanded only after the kidnapping of a person, it is not unheard of for
thieves to demand ransom for the return of an inanimate object or body part. In 1987, thieves broke
into the tomb of Argentinian president Juan Pern and then severed and stole his hands; they later
demanded $8 million US for their return. The ransom was not paid.[11]
The practice of towing vehicles and charging towing fees for the vehicles' release is
often euphemised or referred to as ransoming, especially by opponents of towing. (In
Scotland, booting vehicles on private property is outlawed as extortion.)
Warring international military groups have demanded ransom for any personnel they can capture
from their opposition or their opposition's supporters. Ransom paid to these groups only encourages
more hostage taking. Payments, not paid to the hostage takers, but rather paid to their military
opponents can greatly discourage hostage taking.[12]

See also[edit]
Look up ransom in
Wiktionary, the free
dictionary.

Bail
Extortion
Kidnapping
Weregild

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "ransom". Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press.
2. Jump up^ Plutarch, "The Life of Julius Caesar" in The Parallel Lives, Loeb Classical Library edition,
1919, Vol. VII, p. 445. The pirates originally demanded 20 talents, but Caesar felt he was worth more.
After he was freed he came back, captured the pirates, took their money and eventually crucified all of
them, a fate he had threatened the incredulous pirates with during his captivity.
3. Jump up^ Buckley (2004), p. 104
4. Jump up^ Hertle (2007), p. 117.
5. Jump up^ Buschschluter (1981-10-11).
6. ^ Jump up to:a b D. P. Lyle, Howdunit Forensics (2008), p. 378.
7. Jump up^ John Townsend, Fakes and Forgeries (2005), p. 13.
8. Jump up^ Walter S. Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal Book of Personal Technology (1995), p. 92.
9. Jump up^ Ransom Act 1782 (Act 22 Geo III c 25)
10. Jump up^ Naval Prize Acts Repeal Act 1864
11. Jump up^ "Peron Hands: Police Find Trail Elusive." The New York Times, September 6, 1987.
Accessed October 16, 2009.
12. Jump up^ "Paying ransom for journalists encourages more kidnapping" The Washington Post,
September 22, 2014